Former Super Eagles winger, John Utaka has expressed his desire to be the first African coach that will win the UEFA Champions League.
He made this known in an interview with DW, where he stated that he won’t hesitate to grab the chance of coaching a top club in Europe.
Utaka, who won the English FA Cup with Portsmouth in 2008 is now into coaching.
The 41-year-old made his first foray into coaching in 2020 when he was hired by French club, Montpelier to work as an assistant coach for their U-19 team.
Utaka, who was part of Nigeria’s squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup hosted by South Korea and Japan, had since improved his knowledge of the game by gaining his UEFA A license in 2022 and is now working towards in UEFA pro badge.
“If the opportunity comes to coach a team in Europe, I will embrace it,” Utaka told DW.
“My dream is to win the trophies that I didn’t win as a player. I want to win them as a coach. We’ve never had an African coach win the Champions League. That is a goal for me.”
8 Comments
Now this is what we are talking about, this is the real deal, man walking his way from bottom to the top, gaining and earning necessary experience and qualifications. Not some self entitled ex international with no experience and brain, no qualifications that has made super eagles their do or die affairs. God bless you John Utaka, Olodumare will go with you. Keep shining
This is what we want our ex-internationals to start doing, all this entitlement mentality must stop. SE coaching job is not for testruns and novices, it’s also not for politicians and marketing agents!
So the bribe taker that failed to qualify Chan Eagles for the African tournament who also got Nigeria booted out of the Olympic qualifier plus the present U20 Eagles coach that have never achieved anything since he has been coaching National teams for over a decade are good by your standard. I will rather have an unlicensed or unexperienced former international who played football all his life to the highest level of footballing career handle our National teams instead of the nonentities we have there right now. Those of you in this forum who always call our ex international unprintable names should stop, it is not a crime to represent Nigeria, these people are HEROS and they deserve our respect, Haba ! you guys need to come out and see how their colleagues in other countries are given heroic treatment by their fellow country men and women everywhere they go. Most of our local coaches and even the National teams coaches only played football in their primary school days , then attend 6months course at surulere bam, they become one of our National team coaches through the back door. The present Senegalise coach did not coach in Europe before taking up that appointment, but Senegalise FA let him learn on the job over many years and today his team is the reigning champion of Africa and they were also at the last World cup in Qatar. A lot of our ex internationals played in Better leagues than the Senegalise coach , they were tutored by different coaches in different countries during the course of their career, so they all have what it takes to coach our teams better than the people that are systematically destroying our football. Samson Siasia only played a draw against Guinea and he was fired, yes we were knocked out of that years AFCON qualifier but he was not the one that caused it because he was only drafted in at the middle of the afcon qualifier then we hired roher who came to spend six years experimenting. Listen guys, the only way up for Nigerian football is school/grassroot development of our football and handing over the administration/coaching of our football to serios minded ex internationals. Politicians parading themselves as football administrators are all there for the money and political relevance , they do not mean well for our football. If you are in doubt , just wait very soon they will start to campaign for hosting right of some FIFA tournament or any African tournament that will give them the opportunity to budget for the renovation of stadiums and all other huge capital expenditure that comes with it.
Nice one!
2002 World Cup…
Listen to a wise ex-international, with a coaching badge and a few years’ coaching experience already, after starting his coaching career and badges immediately he retired from active football, not seeing himself as one to go beg NFF for a job…knowing fully well that he isnt there yet. Of course why settle for less when there is more in the world there at your feet to conquer…..?
Enter Mr 100caps ex-international 6years after retirement…..no coaching badges, no coaching qualifications, nor coaching experience…..to lead the SE to the 2022 World cup in Qatar according to some people who have exchanged self respect and wisdom of old age for a plate of porridge…! And they want to be respected…..?!
Never again should we allow our football to be guinea-pigged to 70th position in the world on the altar of blind senseless sentiments……that is if we still have sane men running our football.
Best of luck and everything else Mr Utaka.
I wanna work as an assistant coach with him.
Some comments are just so funny and ridiculous. Is any ex player begging to coach the national team. Where is it written that after football its a must you be a coach. It’s a matter of choice. the ones that have gotten the license which teams are they coaching today. Is anyone even an assistant at a top club. still read where the Moroccan coach is wondering when African coaches will be considered for top european jobs. Abeg leave our ex- players alone. There are many out there doing great without being a coach.